Bucket excavator.



M. G BUNNEL L.

BUCKET EXCAVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6, 1910.

Patented Nov, 16, 1915.

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l. a n 1? Uruarn s BUCKET nxoavaron,

To, all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, MORTON G. BUNNELL, acitizen ofthe United States of. America, and resident of Chicago, Cookcounty, Illi nois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inBucketEXcavators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to excavators of that kind in which arunway isprovidedfor excav'ating buckets or scoops, which runwayis provided witha curve or bend which enters the,

ground, whereby the said scoop or bucket moves downward and then upward,the curve or bend in the runway being such that the edge of the bucketor scoop does not, at such time, assume the most efficient cuttingangle, but

stands at such an angle that it simply scrapes, which isparticularlyobjectionable when the excavator is working in hard ground. I a

The object of my invention isto provide an improved cutter which willtravel ahead of the bucket or scoop, which will work. as well, andpossibly better, during theportion of its travel where it passes aroundsaid curve or bend in the runway, thus insuring an efficient cuttingaction at all points in'the path of the bucket or scoop, especially atthe curve or bend where ordinarily the position of'the bucket or scoopis such that its edge does not a'ssur'ne'a correct cutting angle,

and which will run in the same tracks of the runway that are providedfor the wheels of the bucket or scoop, without any sliding or othermovable connections between the cut ter and the wheels thereof. 7

To this and other useful ends, my invention consists in mattershereinafter set forth and claimed. g

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation ofthe lowerportion of a runway, showing the curve or bend therein, and showing alsoa bucket'or scoop with a cutter in front thereof. both the bucket orscoop and the cutter traveling in one and the same runway, and saidcutter involving the principles of my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlargedsection on line 22 in Fig. 1, looking at the rear of said cutter. Fig- 3is a side elevation of the cutter shown in Fig. 2."

As thus illustrated, the runway A may be of any suitable character, andhas a curve or bend a at the bottom of the ditch. The bucket or scoop Bhas front and rear wheels Z) and b that run in the tracks of said runSpecification of Letters Patent; p t t z u v, 1 1915, Application filedJ'uneB, 1910. Serial No. 565,220. r

way, It will be seen that the said front wheels 6 are somedistance aheadofthe rear wheels, whereby the bucket while rounding the curve or bendassumes a position that makes the edge of the cutting blade 6 scrapeinstead of cut-that is to say, the edgeat such time does notassume itsmost eliicient cutting. angle. This is objectionable, especially in hardground, as the bucket or scoop is subjected to unnecessary strain, andis liable not to properly collect its load.

Tloobviate this difficulty, the cutter C' is arranged to travel ahead ofthe bucket or scoop andloosen up the dirt. The said outter is triangularin shape, having front and blade is on a line'drawn fronithe' axis of}curvature of the runway through the axis of the wheels 0, which is thecorrectanglefor cutting. 1 Preferably, the cutter is connected with thefront of the bucket or scoop B by means of links Dyand has links E forconnection with the operating rope or cable. It will be seen that theblade 0 is always the proper distancefrom the'runway, so as to cutproperly in front of the bucket or. scoop,

and that no sliding or other connections are necessary between saidblade and the upper or wheeled portion of the cutter. Thus the wholecutter structure is verystrong and rigid. The angle of the blade 0 iseven better while rounding the curve, as at such time it is a littlefarther away from the bucket or scoop, and is down a little flatter onthe surface of the ground. In this way the cutter C works effectively atthe time when it is most necessary for it to do so, which is when thebucket is forced to assume its impaired angle for cutting. As shown, thecutter C is bail-shaped and, like the bucket or scoop, arranged totravel between the two sides of the runway. The cutter serves as a linkin a chain or series of links by which the line of draft'is, kept inline with the runway, even while the bucket or scoop is rounding thecurve. This makes the same run easier and smoother.

It is obvious that my invention is applicable to runwaysof differentshapes. In other words, the runway is not necessarily of the shape hereshown, as anyrunway 1n snor no rnnnnnroir o. AusTINfori CHICAGO, ILLrnos. 4 v

the bucket goes around a curve or bendit is.

preceded by a cutter, and the exactjan'gle of the bucket at such time isunimportant;

' Also, my invention isapplicableto excavatorhaving one or more buckets,regard;

less of the method ofoperation thereof.

"By this arrangement the bucket andcutter travel in the samerun\vay,zand.whilethe curve or deflection in the runway impairs thecutting angle of the bucket, such curve or deflection does not'impairthe cutting angle ofthe cutter. Thusthe bucket can. be

"of greater length and g What I claim as my inventionisi capacity thanwithout the cutter. V i

I do not limit myself to the exact c611 struction shown and described.

1. In an excavator, a runway having tracks, a bucket adapted to travelthereon, a cutter traveling on the said runway, links connecting the.cutter with the bucket, and. links connected tow the front of thecutter,

to keep the draft in line with the runway, all of said links travelingin the tracks of the runway. a f. 1

2. In an excavator, a runway having a curve therein, a' wheeled bucketadapted to travel thereon, said bucket having a relatively long wheelbase, wherebyitscutting v anglechanges.objectionablywhilerounding saidcurve, and 'a cutter traveling in front of'the bucket,said cutter havinga blade the edge of which is ona line drawnfrom the axis ofcurvature, aset of wheels the axis of which 1s also on SaldllIlB, and another 'ingsaid curve.

set of wheels the axis of which is a distance from the first wheels, thetwo axes of said wheels bearing a fixedrelation to each other, and beinga relatively short distance apart, whereby the'cuttingv angle of saidcutter does not change objectionably while round- 3. In an excavator,arunway' having a l curve therein,- a wheeled bucket adapted to travelthereon, of allength to. impair the cutting angle thereof while roundingsaid curve, afcu'tter for looseningall the {dirt inadvance of thebucket, traveling. onthe same runway,*and meanskwhereby thecutterhas-abetter cutting angle while rounding the, curve than whiletraveling straight ahead. V v

1 4. In an: excavator, a runwaywith a curvev therein, a wheeled bucket.adapted toxtr'avel, .on-said runway, having a wheel base, ofsuch lengththat its cuttingiangle changes ob-' jectionably while rounding saidcurve, a bail-shaped cutter for-loosening all thejdirt angle anda-consequent loss of cutting eth- 'inffront of said bucket, havingtriangular shaped sides, and front and rear wheels for; H

ciency thereof while roundingsaid curve,

thereby enabling Qsaid bucket to fill easily while operatingat the wrongangle for cutting.

, I MORTON IBUNNELL. Witnesses: a 1 1 3 v E. H. CLEG S. LEwIs.

Signed bv me atChicago,Illinois, at 1 11th day of May,.19l0;

i Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of. Patents, I

I Washington, D. (3.

